snippets of culture...

music....

tonight we are going to see choc quib town, a colombian hip hop group from colombia i like. gus managed to get us some free tickets which is fantastic, although he wont be joining us as he has to work. the concert is being held in a bar in grenada, cali's ponsinby road or crown st if you will. an older area which has a whole lot of bars, restaurants and desinger stores.

here is a taste: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bZBA3Rq8VCk&feature=related

also during la feria (between xmas and new year) i went to 'el super concierto' a big concert which was held out a one of the football stadiums outside of the city. it went on from around 6pm until 4 am and featured many big colombian and latino artists alike. including rubén blades, gran combo de puerto rico, jorge celedón, silvestre dangond amoungst others. the set up was great because they all played mano a mano so two artists/groups would play 'vs' each other, one playing for a bit, the other for a stint and then the same again, so you were never left bored.
needles to say, as it was on a thursday night, by the time we got into town again it was around 5am so us girls went to a restaurant near the office which opens early (or would it be late?) and had a big breakfast before heading to work!

theater.....

i also recently went to el teatro negro (black light theater) who were visiting from prague, who put on a play which utilises black box theater and UV lights along with mime and expressive dance. it was held in the municipal theater which is deliciously old, and decorated with mouldings and ceiling murals and was heaps of fun.

film......

we also recently wathed los colores de la montaña, a wonderful colombian film about a small town in the mountains and the interaction between the towns folk and the guerrilla. centred around the children who attend the local school and their interactiong with each other when the adults arent present as well as seeing things from their view the film is therefore incidently at times rather amusing. i would highly recomend it, and will be bring back a dvd (with english subtitles) if anyone wishes to see it.

dance.....

just before i come home we are gonig to be seeing delirium, the top salsa show in the world which i've been told is some what cirque de soliel in parts. they only perform the last friday of each month in cali and while its not cheap, everyone says it is a must see, colombians and foreigners alike, so really looking forward to it!

there is also an international festival of ballet about to start here in cali, however as we head away for the long weekend i am not sure if we will get to see anything, fingers crossed we can make something work.